Chloe Desir of Newark tells roughly 75 demonstrators Thursday at 4 World Trade Center in New York why she opposes Amazons plans to build an air hub at Newark airport unless the company and Port Authority mitigate air pollution, truck traffic and guarantee living wages for workers.
By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Protesters oppose Newark Airport Amazon air hub deal at Port Authority’s first
in-person meeting. Protesters greeted the Port Authority’s first in-person board meeting since the pandemic on Thursday to oppose an August 2021 agreement to build an Amazon Air hub at Newark Airport and asking the authority to revisit the deal.
Opponents reiterated their objections to Amazon leasing two buildings at Newark Airport to a 250,000-square-foot global air cargo campus charging the plan will hurt minority communities, take away high-paying union jobs and increase air pollution and truck traffic in nearby neighborhoods. They also contend the vote last summer was done at the last minute without a chance for public comment.
About 75 demonstrators picketed outside Port Authority headquarters at 4 World Trade Center and voiced their opposition during the authority’s first in-person meeting since they went virtual at the height of the pandemic in 2020.
Several speakers from community organizations in Newark and Elizabeth voiced their concerns during the demonstration about how the Air hub would affect the surrounding communities.
Several speakers voiced concern about more pollution being inflicted on a neighborhood already affected by air pollution and associated diseases, such asthma, from the airport and port emissions.
“We cannot stand any more pollution in our community, our lives do matter,” said Kim Gaddy, Clean Water Action environmental justice director and a Newark resident. “Amazon and the secret deal will kill more people. “We want more community benefits, we want clean air. We demand you respect the residents of Newark and Elizabeth.”
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